All Forum Posts by: Abel Curiel

Good Evening fellow BP members,

Tonight I call on you to help me choose the best brokerage to sponsor me as I begin a career in Real Estate sales. Without getting into the whole spiel, about a year ago my business partner @Tommy Mejia and I decided that we wanted to become financially independent and decided RE would be the best way for us to reach this goal. Part of that involvement in RE includes me learning the business from the inside out while becoming a successful agent along the way. Of course the extra income from being a part-time agent will give us more access to capital for our own deals.

Last night I was informed I passed my state RE exam. This morning I went out and interviewed with 2 franchise brokerages (whose branches are privately owned as most of you may well know). To my surprise, they both impressed me. 

On the other hand, I've developed a good relationship with a broker who just branched off from a franchise to open a start-up brokerage... On their own!! I am impressed with this broker's business approach and philosophy.

GET TO THE POINT ABEL!!!... 

OK, here it is:

Assuming that all fees, commission splits, policies, etc are the same across all brokerages (the 2 franchises and 1 start-up); Which would help me better become a successful agent and broker (in a few years)?

Do franchises have better resources (trainings, broader MLS access, experienced colleagues,etc) to translate into more potential commission for me?

Does working for a start-up present challenges that a NEW RE agent might not be ready for? 

I'd appreciate any advice or insight!

I wish you all much success!!

-Abel

Welcome to BP Andrew!

You came to the right place for information on REI. Any questions you have, feel free to ask!

Also, I am part of a group that meets every other Tuesday in Queens. A few of us get together to discuss strategy, share ideas, share information, and help each other progress. If you're interested in attending, shoot me a message next Tuesday and I'll give you the info.

Best of luck to you!

-Abel

Hello @Antonios Diakonikolas,

I think wholesaling is a great way build some capital for other investments and I also think its a great business model if done ethically and efficiently. I've found some great info on what to include in your mail piece, how to find motivated sellers, what to say to them,etc. right here on BP's forums and blogs. Podcasts have helped too. I would try finding REI meet ups and networking with some individuals. Other than that, I think @Andrew Michael answered your post as well as anyone could have!

I wish you both tons of success!

-Abel

Hello Derrick and congrats on the lead!

I would run comps in the area to get an idea of his property is worth. The offer depends on what your desired profit from the deal is and what your end goal for the property is (flip, wholesale, hold). 

Best of luck to you!

-Abel

Hello Jamar,

@Keith Goodwine made some great points, awesome post! I'd just like to reiterate the importance of being able to walk away. Seems like the seller wants ARV for a property thats going to take a decent amount to fix up. There may not be much room for negotiation here but I hope the seller opens their eyes and sees what kind of valuable relief you're giving them for this year-long issue.

Congrats on the first lead and I wish you many more!

-Abel

Hello Shaun and welcome to BP!

Great to read a forum post like this. Glad you're diving right in and taking action. If you haven't already done so, get a google voice account and make sure your answering message is set up in a way that it allows you to sort through the calls effectively.

Best of luck to you!

-Abel

Hello James, You have received quite a bit of advice here and it may seem difficult to sum up. It also seems like you've set your sites on REI but don't know which direction to follow. I would advise that you continue to educate yourself on the different avenues of REI and decide which could put you and your wife in the best position based on your goals. Perhaps revisit the idea of house-hacking a multifamily property (i love the idea of house hacking btw!). For your situation, I like the idea of wholesaling or flipping since it allows you to come up with quick cash (if done right) in order to chip away at that student debt. Also, qualifying for loans will be a challenge as other BP members have stated on here. I hope this helped a little, best of luck to you! -Abel

Good Afternoon Andrey,

I think you have some solid goals and I'm sure the abundance of information available to you on BP will help tremendously. 

REI groups are a great way to get out there and meet people and I feel the networking platform on BP is just as valuable. As you continue educating yourself on REI and honing in on your niche, reach out to the good folks on BP. Show them what you know and what you're worth and they'd be foolish to not let you help them!

By the way, I grew up in Corona- neighbors to Elmhurst... Great to see someone else in Queens doing great things!

Best of luck to you!

-Abel

Hello Jason,

BP has plenty of info on the podcasts, blogs and forums. Sounds like you already have a plan figured out. I would say to continue to fine-tune your plan by continuing to educate yourself and expand your network. Attend REI meetings in the markets you're interested in investing in.

Best of luck to you!

-Abel

Great post @Michael Bardelmeier and congrats on what I wish to be the first of many deals for you! My partner @Tommy Mejia are getting our mail campaign ready to mail out for the first time. Because of what we've read and heard, we're electing to go with a postcard mail-out before moving forward with more detailed and situation-specific letters. 

I have a couple of questions for you:

• How did you arrive at your target profit for this deal? Did you have a desired percentage of sales price that you aimed for or was it a pre-determined minimum profit?
• Did you go with postcards to start out or did you obtain a list and mail out direct letters?

Congrats again and I wish you the best of luck going forward!

-Abel